A Death in the Widdecombe Household

She wanted to move forward with a burial but I advised her against it; the cat was quite energetic and… I believe the word is ‘feisty’ when he was alive (Lionel and I did not exactly get along) and his sudden death was strangely sudden. I am as you say, ‘looking in’ to the matter further…

I hope to come up with a satisfying solution in the next couple days but I might not; so please excuse me if I am slow on replying to your inquiries.

10 Responses to “A Death in the Widdecombe Household”

My sincerest condolences, Mosieur Saint-Jerome; I myself love cats, though I sympathise with your not getting along with them as my tom Sidney has a habit of scratching floors and waking me in the night. Knowing that this is probably a stressful time for Mme. Widdecombe and a busy one for yourself, what with looking into the poor tabby’s death, I shall therefore refrain from posing questions about certain matters, chiefly whether the surname “Poirot” has meaning to you in some form.

Mademoiselle Adell, perhaps it may have been easily dismissed as a simple natural death; indeed there were no wounds to show the contrary. However the cat was found in the living room (a tragic irony, mind you) on the other side of the house from the kitchen where he kept to his bedding and litter box at night; therefore I wondered why he was roaming around. And while the cat had some age – 6 years – it was strange for a cat so active, so awfully active, to die so suddenly. Finally, for more personal reasons I had a whetted appetite for a mystery of sorts. I believe you English call it a ‘hobby’, an old one which I wish to revive.

While I’m always up for a fun mystery myself, you might be looking into something that might be bothering your lady friend, the Widdecombe. From your post I can tell she seems quite upset about the cats passing, and I don’t really think it’s fair to her and the memory of her cat to be messing with it. Besides, there are far more interesting mysterious going on around the world right now besides the passing of one cat, wouldn’t you say? Surely you’ve noticed the odd occurrences around the world lately?

Yes, M Adell, I have found many occurences in this time strange myself – but what can a simple Belgian man as myself do with this Euro Crisis or this Flanders controversy? Little more than I am doing now! Rather I do not deal with the big things; It is the small things that nobody else notices that I care for. And with this case I have found a little, very interesting thing…

Well…if you truly are so interesting in you cat mystery, maybe I can help you in someway? Maybe if you tell me the interesting things you’ve found out about Lionel we can get to the bottom of this. In return, maybe you can help me with one of my mysteries in the future, even the bigger ones? I imagine we could have some fun doing that, no? Mysteries are always more fun with other people to compare notes after all.

I take as a compliment your faith in my investigative ability though I do not know what I have done to prove it. As for your request that I help you with a case, I say that I am only a hobbyist. If you have a real emergency on your hands I recommend you contact the appropriate professionals. So far offering a private service is only, I believe you say, a ‘daydream’; but maybe someday…

Reynald, in your last comment you mention ‘little’ & ‘small’ a few times. Right away I thought of the Little people of folklore. Things like Brownies or Tomte. I don’t know if these creature truly exist, if they have violent tendencies or are capable of killing a cat. But if they feel threatened one can only imagine what actions they may take. Lilliputians also come to mind, as if the cat were a not so lucky Gulliver. But I must sound crazy, by no means am I suggesting such creatures truly exist in the real world. An image of little people, armed with makeshift weapons and armor, versus Lionel in a bloody battle to take down the beast popped into my head and I felt compelled to share. I hope you solve your little mystery soon and that the truth is more believable than my ramblings.
Mr. YankeeWhite

I chuckled at your jest, YankeeWhite; yet had you not strayed into such fantasy you would not be far from the truth. We are indeed discussing a little creature associated with the death of Lionel. I speak of a mouse, who found lodging in a mousehole created in the wallboard of the living room. Perhaps his scavenging antics would explain why Lionel was roaming around in the night, playing as you say, ‘cat and mouse’. Yet there is more; for upon removing the wallboards and taking a look inside I found this very mouse – and he too was dead! Fresh as of that very night, and under the same circumstances; no wounds or anything to indicate an unnatural death. Let me ask you; what could this mouse tell us of the death of Lionel?